


A Helping Hand

by Magician Marlain (puptart)



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Bath Sex, DFAB Apprentice, Fingering, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 02:20:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17215208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puptart/pseuds/Magician%20Marlain
Summary: Portia’s quick thinking to distract the Countess leaves Julian and the Apprentice alone in the bath chamber. Spoilers for Book X - Wheel of Fortune.





	A Helping Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This is a repost from my tumblr, ArcanaAfterDark, which got nerfed to hell and back after the Tumblr Witch Trials. 
> 
> I'll be posting the rest of my fic here as well, with a lot more editing and prettying up than I bothered with on my blog. Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have an requests/ideas for future fic!

The one, singular person you were hoping to avoid today is Countess Nadia. You don’t know if it’s your luck or Julian’s at work when you turn a corner and nearly run straight into her chest.

“Oh my,” she says, a hand fluttering delicately over her heart as you steady yourself. There’s a slight tilt to her mouth as she regards you. You start to apologize and explain yourself when from behind Julian bumps into you, hands grabbing your arms to stop you from-- again-- nearly falling into the Countess’ ample cleavage.

“Oopsie,” he says, jovial, clearly not having noticed the Countess yet. 

“Ian,” you hiss, subtly jabbing backwards with an elbow. You need to scram, and fast, if you don’t want Julian’s disguise to be blown.

“There you are,” Nadia says. To your horror, her eye slides up over your head, looking directly at Julian. 

“M-Me, your grace?” he asks, voice pitching up. 

“Yes, you,” Nadia says, stepping around you to scrutinize Julian. He gives you a very subtle shove, and you stumble away a few steps. The look he sends you is already telling you to run, but that would just be more suspicious. Besides, it’s not as if you’d just leave him. 

“How can I be of service, my lady?” Julian asks, straightening up and putting a smile on his face. Nadia leans in, her sharp eyes searching, drawing a blush to Julian’s cheeks. 

“You look familiar, yet Portia says you’re a new hire.” Nadia hums thoughtfully, looking him up and down. “Tsk. That uniform is ill-fitting.”

You look him over, but the uniform seems just fine to you; his ankles aren’t visible, nor his wrists, and that’s a feat in itself with his long limbs. Then again, the Countess is very particular about things being perfect. At the other end of the hallways, you see a spot of red curly hair appear. 

“Milady!” Portia cries, jogging down the hallway with a teapot. She spots Nadia’s proximity to Julian and doubles her pace.   
Thank the gods, you think, because you had no idea how you were going to get out of this one. 

As Portia approaches, she ‘trips’ and yells, “Whoops!”. The pot of tea in her hands is up ended on the front of your clothes. The tepid liquid seeps through the fine fabric of the clothes Nadia herself had given you quickly, sticking to your skin in a sickly manner. All activity in the hallway comes to a screeching halt as everyone turns to look squarely at you.  
With a deep, frustrated sigh, you say, “I suppose I should change clothes.”

Nadia steps over, away from where Julian is sweating bullets, humming thoughtfully with her hand placed delicately beneath her chin. You hadn’t actually meant to address her with your thought. She has much more important things to be attending to than your wardrobe malfunction, besides which Portia’s quick thinking to keep Nadia from looking too closely at Julian will only work if you can scoot him out of sight.

Maybe it’s best she keep looking at you.

“I don’t think these are beyond rescue,” she says, plucking at the hem of your shirt. “But we best get them off fast, before those stains set in.”

“Excellent idea, milady!” Portia bursts, grabbing your wrist with her free hand. “I’ll take our dear magician to do that right away. Shall I bring out the…?”

Nadia’s eyes sparkle with mirth. “I was going to wait until close to the masquerade, but… Yes, we may as well test the fit and see if it’s comfortable enough for dancing in.”

“Dancing?” you ask, suddenly thrown off guard. “Dancing where?”

“Enough questions, esteemed magician, let’s go and get you out of those wet things! Come along Ian!” 

Julian doesn’t respond to his false name, but it does snap Nadia’s attention back to him. Her gaze is sharp enough to cut past the costume, and thankfully that is enough to remind him to pay attention. 

“Er, right!” he says, gathering himself and falling into stride beside you as Portia drags you down the hall by the wrist at a breakneck pace.

“Quick thinking with that tea,” you say. Portia beams at the praise, so you refrain from uttering the second half of that thought, which is that you are very tired of being splashed with drinks. 

“Yes, very quick,” Julian adds, casting a glance back over his shoulder. “That Countess is a quick one too, isn’t she?”

“More than you know, Ilya,” Portia says with a long suffering sigh. “We need to keep you away from her at all costs. Milady isn’t easy to fool, and you’re a terrible actor.”

“Terrible!” Julian exclaims. You both shush him, but he doesn’t have the decency to be ashamed. “My dear sister, I am an excellent actor. I’ve been on stage even.”

“He has,” you confirm with a bemused smile. 

“See? And how was I?” Julian asks, his smuggest smile fixed on his face. Too smug to allow.

“Well…” You suck in air through your teeth, wincing. “The costumes were great.”

Julian’s offense is written all over him as he sputters for an argument. With a subtle elbow to your ribs, Portia sends you a mischievous smile; clearly teasing Julian is one of her favorite things to do as well. 

“Okay, here we are,” Portia says, releasing your wrist and throwing open a set of familiar doors. A wave of soft perfume hits you in the face as you follow her inside. In front of you is the bathing chambers, where you’ve been once before. The wall of windows lets in the bright afternoon sun, causing the surface of the water to glitter. Everywhere else in the palace the opulence is almost too stifling to stand, but this is the one place you think you could never tire of being. 

“Does the palace always have a warm bath ready and waiting?” Julian asks, stridinging in with a sparkle in his eye, inspecting the various faucets and containers. 

“No, but milady was in here earlier. The water won’t be warm anymore, I’m afraid, but it’ll get the job done while I fetch your new clothes,” Portia says, chipper. With a glance between you, she wrinkles her nose. “Er, I think I’ll just leave them outside the door though. Just grab them whenever you’re ready.”

Julian catches on just as the door shuts behind Portia’s quickly retreating form, leaving the two of you entirely alone. His face goes crimson, and suddenly he won’t meet your eye. The container of salts he sets down hits the ground a little too hard, clattering loudly in the otherwise quiet room. 

“I should… step outside.”

“And risk the Countess spotting you, or someone else coming along and roping you into some job or other?” You shake your head. He’s already had way too many adventures in the palace today and you can’t risk him falling into another. “Just stay in here where I can keep an eye on you.”

“Maybe I should keep an eye on you,” he says, letting his words grow heated. You tick an eyebrow up at him. His gaze follows your hands as you reach up to undo the clasp at the neck of your shirt.

“By all means,” you say, letting your own voice drop. The effect on him is immediate. His eye goes half lidded and he bites down on the corner of his lip as he watches you deftly undo the rest of the fastenings as well. The moment you move the fabric aside though, baring skin and undergarments at him, he immediately snaps his gaze up to your face.

“Is this alright?” he asks hurriedly. “Do you- You don’t mind? Or do you?”

Blinking in surprise, you laugh at him. “Julian, if I had a problem I think I would just tell you to turn around, or step behind the dressing screen. Do you have a problem?”

“Oh I have quite a few,” he says, pulling off and dropping the wig in a heap on the ground. Thank the gods too, it was truly awful. “You getting naked in front of me is not one of them.”

“Then stop looking at me like I might throw a snake in your face,” you tell him, throwing your belt at him. He pouts, catching it.

“That’s not an impossibility and you know it!”

“Faust is not my familiar,” you remind him, much as you do love the little python. To cut off any further argument from him (because you know he has endless arguments for anything and everything, enough to tie a person all in knots just trying to keep up with him), you turn around with your arms back and ask, “Help me get this off?”

Long, graceful fingers run up your arms to cup your shoulders, squeezing briefly. His lips brush the shell of your ear, a shiver running up your spine as he whispers, “I can help with all of it.”

“I find that agreeable.” Gods help you, you’ve wanted to get naked with this man since the second time you caught him breaking into your shop. That damnable smile of his does something to you that shouldn’t be legal.  
Not that things being illegal really deters Julian from much.

The silken fabric is tugged gently, falling down your arms as easy as water. Julian eases the garment off the ends of your arms, and you turn to face him just as he tosses it haphazardly against a nearby chair. 

“That is yet another reason you should stay in here with me,” you say, shaking your head in faux disappointment. “No one would believe you’re a servant here, not with how you treat my clothes.”

“I don’t think anyone could blame me for being less interested in your clothes than I am in what’s underneath,” he says with a sharp grin. He falters when you reach up to untie the band around your breasts, eyes going wide, almost hypnotized. 

“Will you join me?” you ask, pulling one of the laces out slowly until the bow comes loose. The fabric loosens, and with a relieved sigh, you raise your arms. Julian boggles at you. You simply wait, until he catches on and hurries to lift the band up and over your head. 

His cheeks may stain red, if he blushes for much longer. 

“I- Nothing could please me more,” he says in a rush, as if a simple ‘yes’ just won’t do. But that’s Julian, never using one word when ten will do the job, and you can’t help but love him for it. 

The rest of your clothes and his are removed in a blur after that. You try to pay attention, to commit it all to memory, but the blood rushing through your body pushes for more like you’re starving for the touch of his skin on yours. By the time the last stitch is dropped, you’re grasping at one another wildly, kissing with abandon. His mouth is like fire against yours, every groan you draw from his throat like a bolt of energy up your spine. 

Your hands skim over the long stretch of his back, down to the curve of his ass where you can’t help but grab two handfuls.   
Julian makes a strangled noise of surprised, pulling back with a gasp. 

“Sorry,” you say, panting. He swallows hard and shakes his head.

“No, no, feel free,” he replies. His gaze drifts to the clothing that has been tossed around the room like so much confetti. “Er, let me gather your things and put them outside for Portia.”

“Good idea.” You could use the breather. Plus, it’ll give you time to heat the water while he tries to find everything he flung around. 

The magic comes easy, your stomach already full of stirred coals from the kissing, but you let your gaze follow Julian for a little extra ‘inspiration’ anyways. Mazelinka isn’t wrong in her assessment that he’s a skinny thing, but his shoulders are broad even without his coat on to fill him out. His tall, pale form is almost graceful as he stoops to pick up your trousers.   
A bubble rises to the surface of the bath and pops, splashing your thigh with boiling hot water.

“Ouch!” you yelp, skipping back from the edge of the bath. 

“Are you alright?” Julian asks, immediately concerned. From the looks of it, he’s managed to gather all of your clothes  
.  
“I’m fine,” you assure him. “Too inspired.”

“‘Inspired?’”

“I’ll explain in a moment, go put those outside the door. Carefully.” You don’t want anyone seeing Julian at all, for obvious reasons, but someone seeing him naked is… Not acceptable. The image of him streaking across the palace ground buck naked with a retinue of guards giving chase is… Well, it’s hilarious, but you’d rather not see it made into reality.

You turn your attention to the water, honing your focus to drop the temperature to something more acceptable for a bath. Behind you, the door opens and closes quickly, followed by the soft padding of Julian’s feet against the tiles as he comes back to you. 

“You’re truly a stunning creature, you know that?” he murmurs, mouth pressed to your ear as his long arms come around your middle. You bite down on a grin.

“You’re distracting me.”

“Silly witchcraft.” 

“Painful witchcraft, actually,” you reply. Normally you’d pinch him for the jab at your magic, but you really do want to make sure the water is put to a pleasant temperature. A cold bath is no more appealing at the moment than a boiling one. You can get him back later. 

Julian hums low in his chest, his clever fingers traveling down to your hips. “Ah, yes. Let me take a look at that.”

Your heart skips a beat in your chest, and immediately you stop channeling your magic as he steps around in front of you.   
There’s no wrestling your concentration back to where it ought to be when he’s hitting his knees, face in close proximity to your groin. No flirty smile is sent your way though; his focus is on the painful red splotch on the front of your thigh from the water. 

“It’ll heal fine on it’s own,” you tell him. He gives you a withering look. 

“I’ve had worse. Let me take care of it.”

You cup your hand over the little burn to cover it, and say, “No.”

His face twists into an expression of true upset, but you refuse to be swayed. It’s nonsense for him to take on every bump and scrape you get in life. 

“Please? I don’t want you to have suffer through-”

“It’s a burn. I’ve had them before, and it will heal just as they have before. There’s no good reason for you taking on every single little injury I ever get just because I get them. I'm not a delicate doll, I'll be just fine."

Julian pouts. You stroke a hand down his cheek then step back, closer to the steps of the pool. He watches for a long moment as you ease yourself into the water, a touch warmer than intended, but certainly pleasant. You pause at belly button depth and inhale the sweetly perfumed water.

“Coming?” you ask, turning to watch him watching you. He nods slowly, like he’s forgotten how for a moment. The burn is too forgotten as he gets to his feet and follows you into the water. Your fingers tangle together as you lead him deeper in, until the water laps at your chest.

“Shall I attend your bathly needs then?” Julian asks, a hoity toity airiness to his words. You roll your eyes.

“Just because Portia insulted your acting skills doesn’t mean you need to practice.”

“I think it does!” he insists, an eager gleam to his eye. Ah, this isn’t about Portia or his ego. When you grab his ass again, he doesn’t jump this time. Instead, he takes your hips and pulls you closer. “Come now, my dear, haven’t you ever wondered what it would be like to have someone wait on you hand and foot?”

“No, I haven’t,” you say truthfully. Asra did enough of that for you when you couldn’t do anything for yourself, and frankly you don’t miss it. Julian knows nothing of that time though, and now hardly feels like the time to tell him. 

“I’m really, really good at it,” he assures you in a sing-song tone. It sways you, as ever, and you consider the offer. How bad could it really be, letting Julian spoil you? It’s different if you’re letting him, rather than needing him.

“Oh alright,” you say. He gives you a face splitting grin, his hands cupping your face as he stoops down to kiss you deeply. The raw hunger you feel in his aura makes you gasp as it runs all over you, drawing you closer to him. Julian truly wants nothing more than to please you, to do anything and everything for you. 

There is something small and scared beneath that desire though. Something that doesn’t just find pleasure in giving, but fears the consequences of not giving enough. 

You’ll have to convince Julian that he gives more than enough to keep you around. Silly boy.

It’s your turn to jump when his hands grasp your ass, fingers squeezing before lifting you up. You gasp, scrambling to grab hold of his shoulders, legs wrapping around his hips as he carries you to the little sitting ledge, where he settles with you in his lap. 

“And what needs attention first?” he asks. You shift around in his arms so you can rest your knees on either side of his hips on the ledge, lifting yourself so you’re eye level with him for once.

“I liked the attention your mouth was giving mine,” you tell him, pinching his chin and leaning in to steal another kiss. The air is cool on your wet skin, making you shiver until Julian’s hands smooth over your back. You run your hands over the breadth of his shoulders, then down his chest. You tickle at his sparse chest hair, and he snorts a laugh. He moves, sinking his teeth into the tender skin of your neck, causing you to go limp against him. 

Julian presses a smile against your skin, kissing briefly before lathing his tongue over the bite. He applies more kisses and bites, moving down your neck with each one, until you’re purring. 

His hands move down as well, from your back to the dip of your waist, down to the curve of your ass. His fingers trail ticklishly around to the front of your thighs, and you gasp aloud as he slips one hand between your legs. The touch is light, barely there, but that just serves to enhance the sensation. 

“Is that alri-” 

You cut Julian off with a hard kiss, grasping his shoulders. He makes a surprised noise against your mouth, but takes it for the encouragement that it is. Without another word, those clever fingers part your folds and tease through them. Your heart beats against your ribcage; you somehow hadn’t expected him to be very good at this sort of thing. He’s always wavered between bravado and flustered, which you took to mean a lack of experience, but the way he touches you speaks to a lot of experience. 

Or else a lot of really good guessing. 

He does little more than tease at the edge of your entrance or around your clit, never quite applying pressure where you need it. It leaves you balancing precariously on a razor thin wire.

“Julian, please.” You grasp at his shoulders, fingernails digging into his flesh and dragging a choked off whine from his throat. 

“Anything for you, my dear,” he replies, voice low in his chest. As promised, you feel his hand flatten against you, and you groan as the heel of his hand rocks against you. There is the pressure you were seeking. 

You shift your hips in time with the rocking of his hand, building up and up until you need more. All it takes is a whisper in Julian’s ear and he nods, shuddering. His fingers slide in slow, in increments, but both of you are eager for him to fill you, so it doesn’t take very long. Julian isn’t much of a tease, it seems. 

“You’re incredible,” he says, the words spilling from his mouth. You try to answer, but all that comes out is a high pitched moan. His clever fingers coax at you to come, and you are helpless but to do just that. 

Waves of pleasure ripple throughout your body. Even your magic responds, zipping out of you to taste at Julian, to feel the satisfaction and wonder coming off of him in waves as you cry out. He’s relentless, never letting up for a moment even as you fall against him in a spent heap. Julian merely wraps an arm around you and continues his fine work, drawing you to a crest again and then again. You have no doubt that he would keep going until his hand fell from his wrist, but you cannot handle more than three times in a row. Besides, you… have no idea how long you’ve been in here. 

“That’s good, Julian. I’m done.” You gently push at his arm, and he slows down, gently pulling his hand away from you. 

“Was that alright?” he asks, a trace of genuine concern there, but mostly you hear how smug he is. For once you think you may allow it, considering he did do a very good job.

“More than,” you assure him, smacking a kiss on his curving mouth. He grins, just a touch dopey, and you kiss him again. This man will be the death of you, but so long as he gives you that look you don’t think you’ll mind too much. 

A knock comes at the door, two swift raps of someone’s knuckles. It busts the little bubble you’ve been in since Portia left.

“Oh my Gods,” you say, remembering your entire purpose and the situation at hand. Julian isn’t even supposed to be in the palace and you’re both supposed to be looking for clues in his old office! You’re also supposed to be looking for his old office!

“Ah, we… should get back to work,” Julian says, having the same realization as you.

Reluctant, you both climb out of the bath. Your knees are still completely made of jelly, and you nearly fall in a heap the moment you step foot on the tiles, but Julian holds you up. As you steady yourself, you can’t help but notice that Julian is still rather attentive from your bath time activities.

“Do you want me to…?” You drag your gaze from his cock to his face, where he’s gone bright pink. 

“Oh, well, yes but- If we had time that would be…” His eyes glaze over for a moment, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. “If we had time…”

You don’t have time, and you are both painfully aware of it. 

“After we get into your old office, I’m going to make sure you are very well taken care of,” you promise, voice low and throaty. Julian lets out a whine, his throat bobbing as he swallows hard. 

“That sounds like a fantastic plan. You always seem to have those,” he says, and you grin toothily. Julian doesn’t even know half of what you plan to do to him when this is all said and done. 

First things first though. You send Julian off to fetch your new clothes, so you can get back to the task at hand. The sooner you find proof of his innocence, the sooner you can show him exactly how fantastic your plans are.


End file.
